Two Marines

On Nov 13, 2010 Lt General John Kelly, USMC gave a speech to the Semper Fi Society of St. Louis , MO. This was 4 days after his son, Lt Robert Kelly, USMC was killed by an IED while on his 3rd Combat tour. During his speech, General Kelly spoke about the dedication and valor of the young men and women who step forward each and every day to protect us. During the speech, he never mentioned the loss of his own son. He closed the speech with the moving account of the last 6 seconds in the lives of 2 young Marines who died with rifles blazing to protect their brother Marines.
"I will leave you with a story about the kind of people they are...about the quality of the steel in their backs...about the kind of dedication they bring to our country while they serve in uniform and forever after as veterans. Two years ago when I was the Commander of all U.S. and Iraqi forces, in fact, the 22nd of April 2008, two Marine infantry battalions, 1/9 "The Walking Dead," and 2/8 were switching out in Ramadi. One battalion in the closing days of their deployment going home very soon, the other just starting its seven-month combat tour.
Two Marines, Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, 22 and 20 years old respectively, one from each battalion, were assuming the watch together at the entrance gate of an outpost that contained a makeshift barracks housing 50 Marines. The same broken down ramshackle building was also home to 100 Iraqi police, also my men and our allies in the fight against the terrorists in Ramadi, a city until recently the most dangerous city on earth and owned by Al Qaeda.
Yale was a dirt poor mixed-race kid from Virginia with a wife and daughter, and a mother and sister who lived with him and he supported as well. He did this on a yearly salary of less than $23,000.
Haerter, on the other hand, was a middle class white kid from Long Island . They were from two completely different worlds. Had they not joined the Marines they would never have met each other, or understood that multiple America's exist simultaneously depending on one's race, education level, economic status, and where you might have been born. But they were Marines, combat Marines, forged in thesame crucible of Marine training, and because of this bond they were brothers as close, or closer, than if they were born of the same woman.
The mission orders they received from the sergeant squad leader I am sure went something like: "Okay you two clowns, stand this post and let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass." "You clear?" I am also sure Yale and Haerter then rolled their eyes and said in unison something like: "Yes Sergeant," with just enough attitude that made the point without saying the words, "No kidding sweetheart, we know what we're doing."
They then relieved two other Marines on watch and took up their post at the entry control point of Joint Security Station Nasser, in the Sophia section of Ramadi, Al Anbar, Iraq .
A few minutes later a large blue truck turned down the alley way-perhaps 60-70 yards in length-and sped its way through the serpentine of concrete jersey walls. The truck stopped just short of where the two were posted and detonated, killing them both catastrophically. Twenty-four brick masonry houses were damaged or destroyed. A mosque 100 yards away collapsed. The truck's engine came to rest two hundred yards away knocking most of a house down before it stopped. Our explosive experts reckoned the blast was made of 2,000 pounds of explosives.
Two died, and because these two young infantrymen didn't have it in their DNA to run from danger, they saved 150 of their Iraqi and American brothers-in-arms.
When I read the situation report about the incident a few hours after it happened I called the regimental commander for details as something about this struck me as different. Marines dying or being seriously wounded iscommonplace in combat. We expect Marines regardless of rank or MOS to stand their ground and do their duty, and even die in the process, if that is what the mission takes. But this just seemed different. The regimental commander had just returned from the site and he agreed, but reported that there were no American witnesses to the event-just Iraqi police. I figured if there was any chance of finding out what actually happened and then to decorate the two Marines to acknowledge their bravery, I'd have to do it as a combat award that requires two eye-witnesses and we figured the bureaucrats back in Washington would never buy Iraqi statements. If it had any chance at all, it had to come under the signature of a general officer.
I traveled to Ramadi the next day and spoke individually to a half-dozen Iraqi police all of whom told the same story. The blue truck turned down into the alley and immediately sped up as it made its way through the serpentine. They all said, "We knew immediately what was going on as soon as the two Marines began firing." The Iraqi police then related that some of them also fired, and then to a man, ran for safety just prior to the explosion. All survived. Many were injured...some seriously. One of the Iraqis elaborated and with tears welling up said, "They'd run like any normal man would to save his life." "What he didn't know until then," he said, "and what he learned that very instant, was that Marines are not normal." Choking past the emotion he said, "Sir, in the name of God no sane man would have stood there and done what they did." "No sane man." "They saved us all."
What we didn't know at the time, and only learned a couple of days later after I wrote a summary and submitted both Yale and Haerter for posthumous Navy Crosses, was that one of our security cameras, damaged initially in the blast, recorded some of the suicide attack. It happened exactly as the Iraqis had described it. It took exactly six seconds from when the truck entered the alley until it detonated.
You can watch the last six seconds of their young lives. Putting myself in their heads I supposed it took about a second for the two Marines to separately come to the same conclusion about what was going on once the truck came into their view at the far end of the alley. Exactly no time to talk it over, or call the sergeant to ask what they should do. Only enough time to take half an instant and think about what the sergeant told them to do only a few minutes before: "...let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass."
The two Marines had about five seconds left to live.
It took maybe another two seconds for them to present their weapons, take aim, and open up. By this time the truck was half-way through the barriers and gaining speed the whole time. Here, the recording shows a number of Iraqi police, some of whom had fired their AKs, now scattering like the normal and rational men they were-some running right past the Marines.
They had three seconds left to live.
For about two seconds more, the recording shows the Marines' weapons firing non-stop...the truck's windshield exploding into shards of glass as their rounds take it apart and tore in to the body of the son-of-a-bitch who is trying to get past them to kill their brothers-American and Iraqi-bedded down in the barracks totally unaware of the fact that their lives at that moment depended entirely on two Marines standing their ground. If they had been aware, they would have known they were safe...because two Marines stood between them and a crazed suicide bomber. The recording shows the truck careening to a stop immediately in front of the two Marines. In all of the instantaneous violence Yale and Haerter never hesitated. By all reports and by the recording, they never stepped back. They never even started to step aside. They never even shifted their weight. With their feet spread shoulder width apart, they leaned into the danger, firing as fast as they could work their weapons.
They had only one second left to live.
The truck explodes. The camera goes blank. Two young men go to their God. Six seconds. Not enough time to think about their families, their country, their flag, or about their lives or their deaths, but more than enough time for two very brave young men to do their duty...into eternity. Those are the kind of people who are on watch all over the world tonight-for you.
We Marines believe that God gave America the greatest gift he could bestow to man while he lived on this earth-freedom. We also believe he gave us another gift nearly as precious-our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines-to safeguard that gift and guarantee no force on this earth can every steal it away. It has been my distinct honor to have been with you here today. Rest assured our America, this experiment in democracy started over two centuries ago, will forever remain the "land of the free and home of the brave" so long as we never run out of tough young Americans who are willing to look beyond their own self-interest and comfortable lives, and go into the darkest and most dangerous places on earth to hunt down, and kill, those who would do us harm.
God Bless America , and....SEMPER FIDELIS

Moral/Ethical Dilemma

You are driving along in your car on a wild, stormy night, when you passby a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for the bus:

1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.

2. An old friend who once saved your life.

3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.


Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car?

This question was posed on an application to see how people would respond. Which one would you give a ride to?

Old flame

I received a phone call from a gorgeous ex-girlfriend who this morning called ‘out-of-the-blue’ to see if I was still around.

We lost track of time, chatting about the wild, romantic times we used to enjoy together.
I couldn’t believe it when she asked if I’d be interested in meeting up and rekindling a little of that “old magic”.

“Wow!” I was flabbergasted.

“I don’t know if I could keep pace with you now”, I said, “I’m a bit older and a bit greyer and balder than when you last saw me. Plus I don’t really have the energy I used to have.”
She just giggled and said she was sure I would “rise to the challenge”.

“Yeah.” I said. “Just so long as you don’t mind a waistline that’s a few inches wider these days! Not to mention my total lack of muscle tone…everything is sagging, my teeth are a bit yellowed and I am developing jowls like a Great Dane!”

She laughed and told me to stop being so silly.

She teased me saying that tubby, gray haired, older men were cute, and she was sure I would still be a great lover.

Anyway, she giggled and said, “I’ve put on a few pounds myself!”



So I told her to piss off

Golf lessons

A foursome of guys is waiting at the men’s tee while a foursome of women is hitting from the ladies’ tee. The ladies are taking their time. When the final lady is ready to hit her ball, she hacks it 10 feet. Then she goes over and whiffs it completely. Then she hacks it another ten feet and finally hacks it another five feet.

She looks up at the patiently waiting men and says apologetically, “I guess all those fucking lessons I took over the winter didn’t help.”

One of the men immediately responds, “Well, there you have it! You should have taken golf lessons instead!”


He never even had a chance to duck

Hitman

Two old friends were just about to tee off at the first hole of their local golf course when a guy carrying a golf bag called out to them, “Do you mind if I join you? My partner didn’t turn up.”
“Sure,” they said, “You’re welcome.” So they started playing and enjoyed the game and the company of the newcomer. Part way around the course, one of the friends asked the newcomer, “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a hit man,” was the reply. “You’re joking!” was the response.“No, I’m not,” he said, reaching into his golf bag, and pulling out a beautiful Martini sniper’s rifle with a large telescopic sight. ! “Here are my tools.”
“That’s a beautiful telescopic sight,” said the other friend, “Can I take a look? I think I might be able to see my house from here.” So he picked up the rifle and looked through the sight in the direction of his house. “Yeah, I can see my house all right. This sight is fantastic. I can see right in the window.” “Wow, I can see my wife in the bedroom. Ha ha, I can see she’s naked!! Wait a minute, that’s my neighbor in there with her…… He’s naked, too!!! The bitch!”
He turned to the hit man, “How much do you charge for a hit?” I’ll do a flat rate, for you, one thousand dollars every time I pull the trigger.” “Can you do two for me now?” “Sure, what do you want?”
“First, shoot my wife. She’s always been mouthy, so shoot her in the mouth. Then the neighbor, he’s a friend of mine, so just shoot his dick off to teach him a lesson.The hit man took the rifle and took aim, standing perfectly still for a few minutes.“Are you going to do it or not?” said the friend impatiently.
“Just be patient,” said the hit man calmly, “I think I can save you a grand here…..”

The sinister secret behind inflation

By David Hayden, webmaster March 07, 2010 at 07:46 PM EST 2 commentsMy mother and father would hark back to the days when a loaf of bread was only 8 cents. “Mom”, I would say, “things just cost more.”Could I have been more wrong?
Things don’t cost more, it is a hidden tax!How Inflation is Created
Contrary to common thought, inflation is not the normal order of things. It will all become very clear when you read this short analogy.
There are 10 people in a community.Abe makes tractorsBill makes gasCharlie builds housesDarin is a developerEdward makes tractor partsFrank is a produce farmerGeorge raises cattleHank is a tractor mechanicIan owns and drives a delivery vanJasper is a laborerThese hardworking folks soon learned a simple barter system would not work. When Charlie built a house for Hank, he wanted to be paid, but did not need tractor parts.
They needed something else of value to trade. Everyone knew this was a problem for them too. So they all got together and created an advanced barter system called money.They created the “DayCredit” or as it became known the DC.
A DayCredit was equal to exactly (1) 12 hour day of work. Since it takes Charlie 3600 hours to build a house, the house is worth 300 DC’s. That means Hank is going to have to labor as a mechanic for 300 days to pay for the house.
With DC currency, it does not matter for whom Hank works, as long as they pay him in equivalent DC currency. Charlie knows that the money he receives can be used to buy goods or services from anyone else in their group.So far; so good.One day, the Fedrev family moves into town. The whole town is excited and welcome the Fedrev’s with open arms. They explain to them how their barter system works and the Fedrevs agree to accept and use the DC currency.Up until this point, everyone printed their own currency based on integrity and full guarantee of their 12 hr work day per DC.Fedrev was a printer and supplied printing services. Then one day they offered to be the sole printer of the DC currency. A reasonable idea but unfortunately Fedrev was lazy and dishonest.Fedrev wanted to have the nicest house in the community but did not have enough DCs to purchase the house from Charlie. So they very quietly printed a little extra money and gave it to themselves as a 10% interest bonus. They then used that money to buy the most expensive house Charlie could build.Everyone knew there were more DCs in the system than there were labor hours to back them up. So when Frank went to buy a tractor, Edward would no longer accept 1 DC per 12 hr day. Edward now wanted 1.1 DCs for each labor day he needed to build a tractor.Jasper the laborer could no longer afford to buy produce because Frank had to raise his prices to cover the cost of the tractor. So he demanded a cost of living adjustment from George the Cattle farmer.Upon learning that George’s beef prices went up by 10% Bill raised his gas prices to cover his family expenses.And so on.Sadly, due to dishonest money policy, 10% of the value of the money simply disappeared. A day’s work is still a days work, but for this community, a day’s work is only worth 91% of what it used to be.For those that could raise their prices, it was a wash.But for those who could not raise their prices, their money now buys less. A day of delivery for Ian is no longer worth a 12 hours of Bill’s gas production.Rising prices are absolute proof that too much money is being pumped into the system!I get inflation, but how is this a hidden tax?
Great Question.Who benefited in the community of 10?The Fedrev’s. They immediately got 10% more value out of their DCs than anyone else. The few that could raise their prices accordingly and immediately maintained the value of their products and services but those that could not lost out.Professional politicians, like the rest of us want to keep their jobs. But in order to even get the job they have to make unrealistic promises like “a chicken in every pot, a car in every garage” or better yet “Health Care for Everyone!”However, there is a finite amount of money available for them to use to pay for this pandering. If they campaign on the promise that “Universal Health Care will only cost you an additional 25% in taxes” no one will elect them.Since politicians know the truth will not work, but will say anything to get or keep their jobs, they need to tax you with out you knowing it.Politicians, like the Fedrevs know that if they ask the Federal Reserve to pump a bunch of money in the system their dollars buy a lot more than your dollars.
The important part of this is knowing how the Federal Reserve creates the money they pump into the system.
Basically they have a book of blank checks. That’s it.The checks are NOT attached to any accounts, any reserve of gold or silver, it is just a check book.The Federal Reserve writes a check to the US Government for billions of dollars and presto chango, money is created out of thin air by the stroke of a pen and the miracle of the printing press.Politicians get billions of dollars to spend (In Obama’s case trillions).The secret is, when politicians use the dollars they get current value.Unfortunately, by time you get your dollar, it is now worth far less than it was when you earned it.The really sick part is that the private bankers, affectionately known as the Federal Reserve, charge the citizens interest on the money they created out of thin air!Through the Federal Reserve Act, the politicians guaranteed the private bankers that the interest would be paid by a direct tax on the income of the us citizens.By devaluing Your dollar, but not the government’s, you get hit with a hidden tax. To keep the illusion alive, the government and media quickly shift all the blame to companies raising prices.Can anything be done to stop this train wreck?
I wish I were more optimistic on this subject. To put an end to this would require a few actions that I just do not see happening.Citizens must take time to fully understand the Federal Reserve. A good place to start is by reading The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve., watching these videos and watching The Money Masters Video.Remove from office all politicians that embrace the Federal Reserve.
Demand and fight for a complete audit of the Federal Reserve.
Demand a list of names of the actual owners of the Federal Reserve.
Insist the politicians fire the Federal Reserve and retake the Constitutional right of our Government to print its own money. (Lincoln did and Kennedy wanted to.)
Cowboy up and realize there is no free ride. It is pay as you go,regardless of what politicians promise.
Demand the elimination of the Federal Reserve Note and insist that currency be backed by gold or some other commodity. (definitely not something stupid like carbon credits)
Ok let’s wrap this up
Inflation is NOT caused by rising prices based or evil profits.
Inflation is direct evidence politicians have intentionally mismanaged money for job security.
The Federal Reserve prints money out of thin air at the behest of the politicians.
The Federal Reserve is gauranteed your income will be taxed to pay them interest on the money they created out of thin air.
The politicians get to spend uninflated dollars that have far more value than the dollars that trickle down to you.Inflation is just secret code for taxation without representation.Ok, maybe we will not be able to return to the days (1935) when milk was 8 cents a gallon or the average cost of a new house was $3450.Focus on value, not dollars. In 1935, based on the average annual income of $1600, an hour of labor would buy 7.6 gallons of gas.In 2009, based on an average annual income of $55,000, an hour of labor will buy 8.8 gallons of gas. Remember, a good percentage of current gas prices are TAXES, so the price of gas, in terms of our direct labor to acquire it, is far less than in 1935.Things do not cost more in effort than they did in the past, in fact, they are often less expensive in terms bartering labor for goods.Politicians are happy to pump too much money into the monetary system to buy their votes becasue it is easy to hide the tax behind slipery words like inflation and pass the blame to the corporations that provide the lifestyle we enjoy.

An interesting perspective

Here at my company, our insurance program has a 2 million dollar lifetime maximum. I don't know if this is standard or not. I have heard of other companies have maximum benefits though.

Here is a dilemma, we have an employee that is in his/her late fifties. This person has had two boughts with cancer and a mild stroke that revealed some aneurysms. This person also has the cancer returning.

Since undergoing all this medical procedures, this person has reached the $2,000,000 point. What to do now?

I know that the new obamacare has eliminated the lifetime maximum, but what if it hadn't eliminated it?

Or better yet, what if this person didn't have private insurance and they were on medicare?

When is it enough? If you have spent $2M on medical and still fighting the same thing, should you continue to fight it?

If the person is on medicare and our tax dollars are paying for it, when is it enough?

I guess my point is that we really need to evaluate end of life planning. Should medicare pay for a 70 year old to have a heart transplant?

The three biggest items in the federal budget are medicare, medicaid, and ssi. To lower our federal budget, we will have to make cuts to the big three. Are we, as a society, going to tell grandpa and grandma that you are too old for that procedure? Should we spend $2M to keep an elderly person alive with little to no quality of life?

The question really becomes who determines the quality of life. The family probably would want to keep grandpa alive but me, the taxpayer, says let nature take its course. Can we allow government officials to make this call? Does grandpa really want to be kept alive to sit in a wheelchair not knowing who he is or who his family is?

I think these are the decisions that will have to be made in the future. It will be hard but they must be made.

the 100MPH goat

Two Tennessee rednecks are out hunting, and as they are walking along they come upon a huge hole in the ground. They approach it and are amazed by the size of it.
The first hunter says, “Wow, that’s some hole; I can’t even see the bottom. I wonder how deep it is.”
The second hunter says,” I don’t know, let’s throw something down and listen and see how long it takes to hit bottom.”
The first hunter says, “There’s this old automobile transmission here, give me a hand and we’ll throw it in and see”. So they pick it up and carry it over, and count one, and two and three, and throw it in the hole.
They are standing there listening and looking over the edge and they hear a rustling in the brush behind them. As they turn around they see a goat come crashing through the brush, run up to the hole and with no hesitation, and jump in head first.
While they are standing there looking at each other, looking in the hole and trying to figure out what that was all about, an old farmer walks up. “Say there,” says the farmer, “you fellers didn’t happen to see my goat around here anywhere, did you?”
The first hunter says, ” Funny you should ask, but we were just standing here a minute ago and a goat came running out of the bushes doin’ about a hunert miles an hour and jumped headfirst into this hole here!”
The old farmer said, “That’s impossible. I had him chained to an old junk transmission!”

Funny

A salesman goes up to a house and knocks on the front door…
It’s opened by a little ten year-old boy who has a lighted cigar in one hand,a glass of whiskey in the other and a Penthouse magazine tucked under his arm…
Salesman: “Hello son. Is your mom or dad home?”…
Little boy: “What the fuck do you think?”…

A public groping

The wife and I flew to Nashville TN two weekends ago for an awards banquet with her company. As the wife has allergies, we have to take her drops with us. We have a very small collapsible cooler that we put her drops in and then place the cooler in our backpack. The drops are in a 2 ounce bottle so we didn't think we would have any problems.

We go thru Midland airport without any issues and we have a great time in Nashville. When we are going through the Nashville airport, things get a little hairy.

I had the backpack so i unloaded it and took my boots off and everything else to pass through security. Everything goes thru the scanner ok and they do a wipe test on the cooler and find traces of nitrates or explosives. Apparently, this gets every one's attention including the TSA supervisors.

They surround me and start asking if that is my bag. I said yes and then one of the TSA people escort me to the glass cubicle they have for semi-private searches. About this time the wife is about to panic because she thinks they are taking me to Gitmo or something.

This young TSA agent tells me that he needs to pat me down. Not a normal pat down but an aggressive pat down to ensure i am not trying to blow up a plane. He informs me that we can go to a private and secure location or we can do it right there. I look at my wife and from her eyes i can tell that if i'm taken to a private spot she would probably have a panic attack.

I look him in the eyes and say "Bubba, i spent 4 years in the Navy. If you want to grope me, you're gonna have to do it where everyone can see, hell, i will buck down right here if that will make you happy"

He cracked a smile and said " I understand, i did 6 years in the Corps"

I replied, " So, you get your jollys groping old sailors do you?"

He says "No, but i do like pissing ya'll off"

He explains the procedure to me and ask if i consent to being searched. I asked if i had a choice and he said absolutely, if you don't want to fly. Naturally i consented and the groping began.

As he was checking my groin area i said "Hey jarhead, my wife is watching so don't look like your enjoying it" He responded with something about squids being queer or something along those lines.

As all this was going on, other TSA agents were standing around my wife and asking her questions about where i had been and such. The whole time she is watching to make sure they don't slap the cuffs on me.

As my searcher was coming up my other leg and checking my left nut, i said " You get it up, you get it off"

He shook his head, finished his search and took the latex gloves he was wearing to have a wipe test done on them the see if i had explosives on my clothing.

When they put the wipe in the testing device, what do you know, the device wasn't working. Some TSA agent got on the radio and was requesting another tester when the jarhead that groped me said to the agent "Just let them go, do you really think they are terrorist?" and my wife overheard him.

He came in, apologized to me and we talked about duty stations as i was getting dressed.

It wasn't a big deal to me, hell, i could really care less. The problem is that there are people like my wife who would freak out if that happened to them. I really think there is a better way to screen passengers.

Education

A man is stopped by the police at midnight and asked where he’s going.
“I’m on the way to listen to a lecture about the effects of alcohol and drug abuse on the human body.”
The policeman asks, “Really?
And who’s going to give a lecture at this time of night?”
“My wife”, comes the reply

Another article by Eddie Sessions

A short article from the Wall Street Journal that needs to be read by every level headed American!!!
Article from the Wall Street Journal – by Eddie Sessions:
“I have this theory about Barack Obama. I think he’s led a kind of make-believe life in which money was provided and doors were opened because at some point early on somebody or some group took a look at this tall, good looking, half-white, half-black, young man with an exotic African/Muslim name and concluded he could be guided toward a life in politics where his facile speaking skills could even put him in the White House.
In a very real way, he has been a young man in a very big hurry. Who else do you know has written two memoirs before the age of 45? “Dreams of My Father” was published in 1995 when he was only 34 years old. The “Audacity of Hope” followed in 2006. If, indeed, he did write them himself. There are some who think that his mentor and friend, Bill Ayers, a man who calls himself a “communist with a small ‘c’” was the real author.
His political skills consisted of rarely voting on anything that might be deemed controversial. He went from a legislator in the Illinois legislature to the Senator from that state because he had the good fortune of having Mayor Daley’s formidable political machine at his disposal.
He was in the U.S. Senate so briefly that his bid for the presidency was either an act of astonishing self-confidence or part of some greater game plan that had been determined before he first stepped foot in the Capital. How, many must wonder, was he selected to be a 2004 keynote speaker at the Democrat convention that nominated John Kerry when virtually no one had ever even heard of him before?
He outmaneuvered Hillary Clinton in primaries. He took Iowa by storm. A charming young man, an anomaly in the state with a very small black population, he oozed “cool” in a place where agriculture was the antithesis of cool. He dazzled the locals. And he had an army of volunteers drawn to a charisma that hid any real substance.
And then he had the great good fortune of having the Republicans select one of the most inept candidates for the presidency since Bob Dole. And then John McCain did something crazy. He picked Sarah Palin, an unknown female governor from the very distant state of Alaska . It was a ticket that was reminiscent of 1984’s Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro and they went down to defeat.
The mainstream political media fell in love with him. It was a schoolgirl crush with febrile commentators like Chris Mathews swooning then and now over the man. The venom directed against McCain and, in particular, Palin, was extraordinary.
Now, nearly a full 2 years into his first term, all of those gilded years leading up to the White House have left him unprepared to be President. Left to his own instincts, he has a talent for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. It swiftly became a joke that he could not deliver even the briefest of statements without the ever-present Tele-Prompters.
Far worse, however, is his capacity to want to “wish away” some terrible realities, not the least of which is the Islamist intention to destroy America and enslave the West. Any student of history knows how swiftly Islam initially spread. It knocked on the doors of Europe, having gained a foothold in Spain .
The great crowds that greeted him at home or on his campaign “world tour” were no substitute for having even the slightest grasp of history and the reality of a world filled with really bad people with really bad intentions.
Oddly and perhaps even inevitably, his political experience, a cakewalk, has positioned him to destroy the Democrat Party’s hold on power in Congress because in the end it was never about the Party. It was always about his communist ideology, learned at an early age from family, mentors, college professors, and extreme leftist friends and colleagues.
Obama is a man who could deliver a snap judgment about a Boston police officer who arrested an “obstreperous” Harvard professor-friend, but would warn Americans against “jumping to conclusions” about a mass murderer at Fort Hood who shouted “Allahu Akbar.” The absurdity of that was lost on no one. He has since compounded this by calling the Christmas bomber “an isolated extremist” only to have to admit a day or two later that he was part of an al Qaeda plot.
He is a man who could strive to close down our detention facility at Guantanamo even though those released were known to have returned to the battlefield against America . He could even instruct his Attorney General to afford the perpetrator of 9/11 a civil trial when no one else would ever even consider such an obscenity. And he is a man who could wait three days before having anything to say about the perpetrator of yet another terrorist attack on Americans and then have to elaborate on his remarks the following day because his first statement was so lame.
The pattern repeats itself. He either blames any problem on the Bush administration or he naively seeks to wish away the truth.
Knock, knock. Anyone home? Anyone there? Barack Obama exists only as the sock puppet of his handlers, of the people who have maneuvered and manufactured this pathetic individual’s life.
When anyone else would quickly and easily produce a birth certificate, this man has spent over a million dollars to deny access to his. Most other documents, the paper trail we all leave in our wake, have been sequestered from review. He has lived a make-believe life whose true facts remain hidden.
We laugh at the ventriloquist’s dummy, but what do you do when the dummy is President of the United States of America ?”

a few one liners

A bloke walks into a Glasgow library and says to the prime librarian,
‘Excuse me Miss, dey ye hiv ony books on suicide?’
She stops doing her tasks, looks at him over the top of her glasses and says,
‘Buzz off, ye’ll no bring it back!’


A man took his dog to the cinema. At the end of the film the dog applauded.“That’s amazing,” said the usherette.“Yes, it is,” said the man. “He didn’t think much of the book.

Slow EMS response

I saw a Muslim fall off the 21st Street bridge into the Arkansas River at 8:00 this morning. Being a responsible citizen, I immediately informed emergency services.
It’s now 6:00 PM and they still haven’t responded!
I’m beginning to think that I wasted a stamp !

How old is the earth

My counterpart in our sister company is a geologist. The other day, we had a discussion about God, he isn't a believer, and how old the earth is. As a geologist, he believes that they have effectively used radiometric dating to date the age of the earth at about 4.54 billion years old.



If you believe in creation, 4.54 billion years old doesn't hold with the story in Genesis. When two theories are presented, at least one has to be wrong.



The question is, which one is right.



As someone who believes in creation, i tend to lean more toward the biblical explanation than the scientific explanation. Now go back and re-read Genesis 1:1. The answer may lie in the time frame between the first and second sentence of Genesis. Nowhere does it mention time. You see, time as we know it, it determined by the rotation of the earth and its orbit around the sun. This is how we define time.



If you read Genesis, you notice that the sun wasn't created until day four. One may argue that time didn't exist before day four. Those first 3 days of creation could be hundreds, thousands, millions, or billions of years.



We know from reading in Job and Isaiah, Psalms, Luke and Ezekiel that angles existed. I am tending to believe that the angels ruled the world and the war in heaven between God and the angels took place between the first and second sentence of Genesis.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1, emphasis added throughout). "Heavens" refers to the galaxies, planets and stars, including our sun. We aren't given a date when this occurred. This verse does not restrict the time frame to either 6,000 or billions of years ago.

Verse 2 then says, "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep." As with most of the Old Testament, this verse was originally written in Hebrew. And the Hebrew word translated "was" here can have the sense of became. The same word is used in Genesis 3:20, where we read that Eve "became the mother of all the living" (New American Bible).

Next let's consider the phrase "without form." The Hebrew word for this phrase is tohu, which means formless, confusion, empty, wasteland, a place of chaos. The word "void" is the Hebrew word bohu, which means emptiness, void, waste or ruin.

Dr. Arthur Custance, in his book Without Form and Void: A Study of the Meaning of Genesis 1:2, states, "I am persuaded that there is, on the basis of the evidence, far more reason to translate Genesis 1:2 as 'But the earth had become a ruin and a desolation, etc.' than there is for any of the conventional translations in our modern versions" (p. 7).

Since Genesis 1:2 can either mean that the earth was or that it became "without form, and void," what do additional scriptures indicate?

Isaiah 45:18 says of the earth that God "did not create it in vain [tohu]," but instead "formed it to be inhabited." The Hebrew word for "vain" is the same word used in Genesis 1:2. If God did not create the earth (originally) as a formless wasteland, then something happened that caused it to become that way, sometime after God created it. We'll address what likely caused this state of confusion in a moment.

Genesis 1:2 continues, "And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." Psalm 104 also describes some of God's creative works. Verse 30 says, "You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth." The word translated "renew" means to rebuild, renew or repair. This harmonizes with the understanding that the first two verses of Genesis show an initial creation of the heavens and the earth that was not in vain (tohu), followed by a catastrophic event that left the earth in ruins, followed by God renewing the earth by His Spirit.

Verse 3, then, actually begins the record of God's creative work of renewing the earth and preparing it for His new creative masterpiece—human beings!
Now, how long before this destruction and renewal was the earth itself created? A day before? A year before? A million years or more before? The account simply does not say when the earth itself was created. What it says is that during the six-day period described in the verses that follow, God brought the planet into an orderly arrangement that would support life as we know it.

Angels and the biblical record

The creation of angels and the record of their activity best harmonizes with a creation that existed prior to the seven days of re-creation or renewing the earth for human beings.
In Job 38:4-7 God asks Job, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth...when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"

The terms "morning stars" and "sons of God" both refer to angels. They all shouted for joy when God first created the earth. All the angels—including Lucifer, who later became Satan—were in agreement with God and were ecstatic about what He had just made. When the earth was first created, Lucifer was not yet corrupted with iniquity. It certainly seems that considerable time must have passed between the creation of the earth, when Lucifer was in agreement with God, and his later appearance as the evil deceiver to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.

We find more details in Isaiah 14:12, where God says: "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground." Jesus Christ, who lived in glory with the Father from eternity past before becoming human, said that He saw Lucifer fall from heaven (Luke 10:18).

Isaiah 14:13-14 explains some of Satan's motivation: "For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'"

In Ezekiel 28:14-16 God sheds more light on the story: "You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God."
Something caused the beautiful earth—which all the angels were thrilled to see—to become a wasteland, choked with debris and incapable of supporting life. It seems likely that the rebellion of Lucifer led to this devastation.

Notice also Jude 6: "And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day." These angels abandoned the domain God gave them, the earth, either by leaving it (perhaps in the attempt to take over God's throne) or abandoning their responsibility to properly maintain it.

Summary of the scenario

So we don't know how long ago God originally created the heavens and the earth, but the biblical account reveals:

• God first created the angels at an unspecified time in the past.
• He then created the earth and material universe—including the sun and other stars. At this time all the angels were still righteous and rejoiced.
• The angels were given a domain, which included the earth.
• The angels may then have spent hundreds, thousands, millions or billions of years active in this domain, which likely included plant and animal life on the earth. There is nothing in the Bible to prohibit the existence of life-forms such as the dinosaurs in this pre-Adamic world.
• Lucifer eventually deviated from God's righteous way. He ultimately convinced one third of the angels to follow him in rebelling against God (Revelation 12:4).
• These angels became dissatisfied with their domain. Satan plotted to ascend into heaven and dethrone God.
• God cast Satan and the sinful angels down to the earth to await judgment. We find Satan already here to turn Adam and Eve against God soon after they were created.
• The result of Satan's rebellion likely resulted in the devastation (whether suddenly or over a long period of time) of the beautiful earth God originally created.
• God renewed the surface of the earth to support life and be suitable for His new creation—human beings! The Bible actually shows an existing creation—earth and universe—preceding the six-day account of Genesis 1:3-31. Based on this record of angelic activity before the preparation of the earth for humankind, we conclude that the earth is much older than 6,000 years.

If he had only known

obama accomplishments

1. He has destroyed the Clinton Political Machine – Driving a stake thru the Heart of Hillary’s Presidential aspirations–something no Republican was ever able to do. Remember when a Hillary Presidency scared the daylights out of you!
2. He killed off the Kennedy Dynasty – No more Kennedys trolling Washington looking for booze and women wanting rides home. American women and freedom are safer tonight!
3. He is destroying the Democratic Party before our eyes!Dennis Moore had never lost a race – quitEvan Bayh had never lost a race – quitByron Dorgan – had never lost a race – quitHarry Reid – bid for re-election doesn’t look good .Powerful House leader 40 year veteran David Obey ( Wis ) refuses to run again and loseAl Gore lost his voice, his wife and now has TWO mansions to “live green” in.California ’s Barbara Boxer has gone silent….Carly Fiorina will beat her in Nov.
These are just a handful of the Democrats whose political careers Obama has destroyed! By the end of 2010 dozens more!
In December of 2008 the Democrats were on the rise. In the last two election cycles they had picked up 14 senate seats and 52 house seats.The press was touting the death of the Conservative Movement and the Republican Party.
In one year Obama put a stop to all of this and will probably give the house, if not the senate back to the Republicans.Obama was named Gun Salesman of the Decade. He also has helped the ammunition industry so much that the factories are operating 24-7 trying to keep up with the demand.
He has completely exposed liberals and progressives for what they are.
Every generation seems to need to relearn the lesson on why they should never actually put liberals in charge.
He is bringing home the lesson very well!Liberals tax, borrow and spendLiberals won’t bring themselves to protect AmericaLiberals want to take over the economyLiberals think they know what is best for everyoneLiberals aren’t happy till they are running YOUR life
He has brought more Americans back to conservatism than anyone since Reagan.In one year he rejuvenated the Conservative Movement and brought out to the streets millions of Freedom Loving Americans.
Name me one other time in your life that you saw your friends and neighbors this interested in taking back America!
In all honesty one year ago I was more afraid than I had ever been in my life. Not of the economy, but of the direction our country was going. I thought Americans had forgotten what this country was all about. My neighbors, friends, strangers proved to me that my lack of confidence of the greatness and wisdom of the American people was flat out wrong.
When the American People wake up, no smooth talking teleprompter reader can fool them!
Obama woke up these Great Americans!Again, I say, Thank you, Mr. Obama!
So, Let’s Recap “2009″………what a year! WOW!!!1. The American people inaugurate a president with a total of 142 days experience as a US Senator from the most politically corrupt state (city) in America whose governors have been ousted from office. The President’s first official act is to order the close of Gitmo and make sure terrorist’s civil rights are not violated. ( Honest mistake?)
2. The U.S. Congress rushes to confirm a black Attorney General, Eric Holder, whose law firm we later find out represents seventeen Gitmo Terrorists. ( An honest mistake?)
3. The CIA Boss appointee, Leon Panetta, has absolutely no experience.
4. We got the second most corrupt American woman (Pelosi is #1) as Secretary of State; bought and paid for.
5. We got a Tax Cheat for Treasury Secretary who did not properly file his own taxes for 12 years.
6. A Commerce Secretary nominee who withdrew due to corruption charges.
7. A Tax cheat nominee for Chief Performance Officer who withdrew under charges.
8. A Labor Secretary nominee who withdrew under charges of unethical conduct.
9. A Secretary HHS nominee (Daschle) who withdrew under charges of cheating on his taxes.
10. Multiple appointments of former lobbyists after an absolute campaign statement that no lobbyists would be appointed.
All this occurred just during the first three weeks. . . But who’s counting?
America is being run by the modern-day Three Stooges; Barry, Nancy and Harry and they are still trying to define stimulus…”it’s spending!!!”
The congress passes the $800,000,000,000 (that’s $800 billion) pork-loaded spending bill where the government gives you a smidgen of your tax dollars ($13 per week), making you feel so good about yourself [stimulated], that you want to run out to Wal-Mart and buy a new Chinese-made HDTV! Only with the Liberals…
Pray for our country.
Here’s the good news though – Obama took Air Force One to Denver to sign the stimulus package, wasting as much as 10,000 gallons of fuel OR 24 JOBS FOR ONE YEAR.
Don’t you just love hypocrites?Obama went to the International Olympic Committee to have them choose Chicago for a host city, he failed.Obama went to Copenhagen to lecture them on global warming, he failed.Obama went to New Jersey to promote the Democratic candidate for governor, he failed.Obama went to Virginia to promote the Democratic candidate for governor, he failed.Obama went to Massachusetts to promote the Democratic candidate for senator, he failed.Obama went to Louisiana 45 days late to calm the folks down, he failed.
B.O. went on bended knee to the Arabs to win their love & affection, and failed.
He spent nearly a trillion dollars to “stimulate job growth” and this month we get 41,000, another failure.
He has signed the death of NASA and blunted spaced exploration while being the “education president”, a failure.
He calls himself a Christian but has yet to select or attend a Wash D.C. church, failed again.
Obama ran in 2008 to end partisan politics, oops, failed yet again.
He promised to be the most “transparent” President and recent events within the White House have shown MORE FAILURE.
Obama is the 1st president in history who did not attend any Christmas religious observance.
He is the first President in modern times to ignore the laying of the wreath ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery , preferring to vacation in Chicago and play basketball as the Gulf Coast is drenched in oil….FAIL, FAIL, FAIL.
And finally, he is the 1st president to remain on vacation after a terrorist attack.
In these times I’ll keep my God, my freedom, my gun and my money.Anyone that supports this insanity can keep “THE CHANGE”.
Just Facts………………………….those on the Left will say this is no big deal!!!!!!!

I am my father's son

The past few days i have been thinking about my childhood, in particular, the time spent with my dad and how he influenced me. I am the oldest child and i think dad wanted me to follow in his footsteps. He wanted me to be like him. In many ways i am like him and in many other ways we are polar opposites.

Dad taught me the basics that all fathers teach their sons. He taught me how to ride a horse and how to be a good rodeo cowboy. He taught me how to weld, to hunt, basic gunsmithing, mechanics, how to shoe a horse, how to doctor a horse, how to work cattle, how to be a man, but most importantly, he taught me pride and honor.

Though many of the lessons came later in life, he did teach them to me. He taught me well, and when i didn't listen, he used words.

I left home at 18. I was too smart to be living with a couple of antiquated people and joined the Navy. From the Navy i went to work in the oil patch and i have never looked back nor moved back home. As an adult, we have always had a long distance relationship.

I saw dad a couple times a year but we always met on the first weeked of October for hunting season. This has been a family gathering since 1994. A lot of issues were cussed and discussed in the camp over the years and a lot of life's lessons were learned there as well.

As i grew older, i started appreciating the time we spent together. Dad was my Best Man when i married my late wife and he was there when i laid her in her final resting place. Although many miles always seperated us, he was there when i needed him the most. I could always count on him to be there.

I have only seen my dad cry once in my life. It was at my grandmother's funeral. That was the first and last time. I guess maybe that is why it is so hard for me to shed tears.

I did my best to make him proud of me. I came back to the Church and became well versed in my faith. I joined the Knights of Columbus and moved up to District Deputy, the highest position he held. I say i did it for myself but deep down, i did it for him as well. It has been a journey worth taking and the change was for life.

The best advice he ever gave me came a few days after my late wife's funeral. He said "Son, don't worry about what other people think, you never have before. Live your faith, trust in God, be true to yourself, and follow your heart".

Following his advice, i picked myself up and moved on. It wasn't easy sometimes but i had to do it. I met the most perfect woman i could ever hope to meet and followed my heart. I proposed to her and took her home to meet the parents. They got along so well. Dad knew i had a winner.

We got married but dad couldn't be there because of his illness. He wanted to but just couldn't. As i moved forward in my new life, i talked to dad often. Saught his advice and told him he was full of shit from time to time. Just typical father/son stuff. We talked regulary after the wife and I bought our dream home in the country. Ever time dad called it seemed i was burning a fire.

Dad called me Sunday night and we talked for about 30-45 minutes or so. We talked about everything we had to do to prepare for our annual camping trip. He was getting excited and was ready to go. We talked about him stopping his medical treatments because he was tired of fighting it. We agreed to talk about it at the camp. About 2230 i told him i had to go to bed. Unlike him, I had to get up and go to work the next day. We said our goodbyes and I went on and went to bed planning all i had to get done before leaving for Louisiana. Sweet dreams lay ahead.

About 0630 Monday morning i am driving to work and mom calls me and tells me that dad passed away about an hour ago. I pulled over on the side of the road and let it sink in. I always knew this call was coming, just not this week. I turned around and went home and told the wife. After that, i loaded up and went to work. There was no need for me to rush to Louisiana. Dad has been fighting this disease and we knew he was on borrowed time. All arrangements had been made and his body was donated to the HHT foundation.

It will be a long drive home thinking of dad for most of it i'm sure.

Evils of masturbation

The other day, a few of my Brother Knights and I were enjoying a refreshing beverage and discussing common sins that we think people don't think are sins. Obviously masturbation came up.

This particular sin is one that always sparks a good discussion. You have those that believe that masturbation is a natural act and they have to shave their palms regularly and those who believe it is truly a sin.

While we were discussing the merits of both sides of the topic, our Priest walks in and joins the discussion. Our Priest loves our discussions and actually enjoys being a part of them.

Father explains to us that masturbation is one of the causes of marital decline. He explains that when a person masturbates, they are usually visualizing someone other than their spouse. As they pleasure themselves thinking of someone else, this actually creates a rift in the relationship with their married spouse. Over time this rift can become quite large and the man feels that the wife doesn't meet his needs and that leads to infidelity. He also stated that pornography has the same affect.

Since statistics show that 50% of all marriages fail within 5 years, it is hard to argue with Father's logic.

Me being the smart ass that i am asked him, "Father, if God didn't want me to play with it, why didn't he put it on my back between my shoulder blades?"

Father looks at me and smiles and said "Ray, knowing you like i do, you would find a way to abuse it if it was on your back"

What can i say, the man knows me.

It has been a while

I haven't posted in a while because i have been busy as hell. September 1 we closed on our new house. We found "Our Dream Home". It has 2,150 square feet, two car over sized garage that fits my Dually, a 20' x 40' carport, a 16' x 16' carport, a 30' x 18' carport, a 30' x 40' shop, two acres and a stocked pond.

It is 3 miles from the city limits so we are in the country but to far out. I can ride my 4-wheeler or whatever now and not get harassed. The landowners actually own the road. The law can't do shit about it.

The other night i took the rhino to go check the mail. A couple of neighbors were drinking cold beer in the garage and flagged me down. A couple hours later i tried to find my drunk way home and forgot i had lights on the rhino. Life is good!!

The pond is about 60' diameter and was dug to a depth of 14'. we estimate that it is about 9' deep now. The water was crystal clear and you could see the bottom. It had an overgrowth of algae growing beneath the surface which really interferes with my fishing so i decided it was time for the algae to go.

I go down to the coop and they have this copper sulfate to kill the algae. I read the directions and estimated the water volume of the pond. I guess i put too much of the chemicals in the pond because now the water is no longer clear and it smells awful. Freakin algae is ruining my pond.

So i figure since i am a man of exceptional talent for coming up with presidential fixes, i decided to invent a tool to remove the algae. I call it Ray's algae grappler. I built it out of square tubing and it is 24" x 30" and i welded 3" long rebar to it. It looks like a small spring harrow that i tied a rope to and can throw out into the pond. When i pull it in, it rakes up a butt load of algae. Excellent tool but it requires a lot of labor.

Once i get the place cleaned up i will post some pics. I have already hauled off three 16' trailer loads of scrap metal and burned tons of trash. Now i have to trim some trees because the previous owner didn't maintain them.

Tolerance

If it is true that the mosque near Ground Zero is to promote tolerance;
It was suggested that a gay nightclub be opened next door to the mosque.
Two names suggested are; “The Turban Cowboy”, and “You Mecca Me Hot”.
On the other side they should open a butcher shop that specializes in pork!
And across the street a store that sells and displays bikinis or ladies lingerie on manikins…or live models.
In the alley, they should put Obama’s 2012 campaign headquarters!!!
Then we’ll see if tolerance works both ways!!

Bumper stickers seen on Military bases

“Except For Ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism andCommunism, WAR has Never Solved Anything.”
” U.S. Marines – Certified Counselors to the 72 VirginsDating Club.”
” U.S. Air Force – Travel Agents To Allah”
“Stop Global Whining”
“When In Doubt, Empty The Magazine”
Naval Corollary: Dead Men Don’t Testify.
“The Marine Corps – When It Absolutely, Positively HasTo Be Destroyed Overnight”
“Death Smiles At Everyone – Marines Smile Back”
“Marine Sniper – You can run, but you’ll just die tired!”
“Marines – Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity ToDie For their Country Since 1775″
“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It”
“Happiness Is A Belt-Fed Weapon”
“It’s God’s Job to Forgive Bin Laden – It’s Our Job To ArrangeThe Meeting”
“Artillery Brings Dignity to What Would Otherwise Be Just AVulgar Brawl”
“One Shot, Twelve Kills – U.S. Naval Gun Fire Support”
“My Kid Fought In Iraq So Your Kid Can Party In College”
“Machine Gunners – Accuracy By Volume”
“A Dead Enemy Is A Peaceful Enemy – Blessed Be The Peacemakers”
“If You Can Read This, Thank A Teacher.. If You Can Read It InEnglish, Thank A Veteran”

Clever Truisms

1. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
6. Was learning cursive really necessary?
7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
9. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.
10. Bad decisions make good stories.
11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection…again.
13. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
14. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this – ever.
15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What did you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away??
16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
17. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well. 19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.?
20. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option
21. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it. 22. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.?
23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.?
24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.?
25. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said??
26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!?
27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber & dumber every year?
29. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.?
30. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
31. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Don key – but I’d bet my all everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

Why do sharks swim in circles before attacking?

Two great white sharks, swimming in the ocean, spied survivors of a sunkenship.
“Follow me, son.” the father shark said to the son sharkand they swam to the mass of people.
“First we swim around them a few times with just the tipof our fins showing.”
And they did.
“Well done, son! Now we swim around them a few more times with all of ourfins showing.”
And they did.
“Now we eat everybody.” And they did.
When they were both gorged, the son asked, “Dad,why didn’t we just eat them all at first?
Why did we swim around and around them?
His wise father replied,
“Because they taste better without the shit inside

How congress got to where it is

Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all the other monkeys with cold water. After a while another monkey makes the attempt with same result, all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon when another Monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put the cold water away. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the Stairs. To his shock, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one.
The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.
Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs he is attacked.
Most of the monkeys that are beating him up have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey. After replacing all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana.
Why not?
Because as far as they know, that is the way it has always been done around here.
And that, my fellow monkeys, is how Congress operates . . . . so, we need to replace all the original monkeys this November.

Pissing off the layity

Last night after a meeting we were enjoying a light snack. My Priest and a few other Brother Knights and I had gathered around the table and were just chatting. The conversation turned to the war. Everyone had their opinions and I, being the conservative type, just kept to myself.

Eventually someone asked my opinion and that is when the conversation turned interesting. I explained that the mess we have over there is what happens when politicians run a war instead of the Generals and Admirals. War is the worst case scenario. When one is committed to a war, that country must do EVERYTHING in its power to win. I understand that innocent people will die, that is the nature of war. Our job is to terminate everyone that is the enemy or harboring the enemy.

The looks i got were of shock. I was asked if i condone the killing of innocent women and children. I said i don't think we need to go out and hunt women and children but they will die in a war. It is a fact that must be accepted. If it requires to take out a family to terminate a high level target, shit happens. Take them down.

The object is to win. Not win hearts and minds of the people who live in the country we are bombing. They are going to hate us anyway. It may be tragic but it is a fact of war.

Mosque at ground zero

Well, it is all over the news, again. The muslims want to build a 13 story building near or at ground zero to showcase the muslim faith. Well that really puts a knot in my knickers.

The religion of peaces wants to build a building where followers of the religion of peaces killed innocent Americans. Hum,,,,, doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

I am sure they have some goal of educating us as to the religion of peace and how it was extremist who did it blah blah blah. I don't really give a shit. Those people should be kicked out of New York. I don't feel like being tolerant of their religion. Those peaceful people have been at war for over 2,000 years in the middle east and then they brought it to us.

It is time that we stand up and tell them to take their peaceful asses down the road.

The best posture for prayer

A priest, a minister and a guru sat discussing the best positions for prayer, while a telephone repairman worked nearby.?“Kneeling is definitely the best way to pray,” the priest said.?
“No,” said the minister. “I get the best results standing with my hands outstretched to Heaven.”?
“You’re both wrong,” the guru said. ”The most effective prayer position is lying down on the floor.”?
The repairman could contain himself no longer. “Hey, fellas,” he interrupted. “The best prayin’ I ever did was when I was hangin’ upside down from a telephone pole

The $1 and the $20

A well-worn one-dollar bill and a similarly distressed twenty-dollar bill arrived at a Federal Reserve Bank to be retired. As they moved along the conveyor belt to be burned, they struck up a conversation. The twenty-dollar bill reminisced about its travels all over the country.?
“I’ve had a pretty good life,” the twenty proclaimed. “Why I’ve been to Las Vegasand Atlantic City , the finest restaurants in New York, performances on Broadway, and even a cruise to the Caribbean. “?
“Wow!” said the one-dollar bill. ”You’ve really had an exciting life!”?
“So tell me,” says the twenty, “where have you been throughout your lifetime?” ?
The one dollar bill replies, “Oh, I’ve been to the MethodistChurch, the BaptistChurch , the LutheranChurch.”?
The twenty-dollar bill interrupts, “What’s a church?”?

Minding my own business

So there i was minding my own business as usual when the wife decided it was time to start looking for "our place". Yippee

She started going through everything that had real estate listings. We drove around neighborhoods we liked, we actually went and knocked on doors that had for sale signs in the yard. Suprisingly, no one ever complained about it, they all welcomed us in to look at it or talk to us about it.

One thing about looking at houses, you get to see some shit. I am surprised at how some people live. Some clean and others not so clean. It was an eye opening experience.

The good thing in my favor was that "our house" was going to be very difficult to find. It is a good thing because i was hoping to put this process off till next year. Our house had to have the following; 2 living areas, modern kitchen, separate pantry, separate laundry room, sequestered master with modern bathroom, hers and hers closets, dual sinks, garden tub and stand alone shower, 2100 square feet or larger, central air and heat, shop or large lot to build shop, and a fence to keep the dogs in.

We looked at every property that came close to our description. We found one house that we really liked. The house was awesome on one third acre so it had room from my shop. One third of the house was the Master suite. The shower alone was 5'X10' with double doors and double shower heads. I would live in the bathroom. It had TV, stereo, telephone, everything you needed in a bathroom. The couple was getting a divorce so they wanted to sell badly. The issue was the easement to the back of the property. The county couldn't tell us who owned it. If i built a shop, i need that back easement to access it due to the configuration of the lot. When we finally got an answer, the couple decided to reconcile so they took the house off the market. Time to start all over.

We spent all last weekend looking and driving our realtor crazy. I picked this house about 4 miles from city limits out in the country, you know where the pavement ends and dirt roads begin. After my wife went in the house and looked around, she turned to me and said "get it". After quite the negotiation, the realtor should be having the contract signed by the seller this morning. We should have "our house". Even my realtor asked me if i was Jewish.

The house is awesome. 2150 square feet, sequestered master, in-law plan for bedroom #2 and all three bedrooms have their own bathroom. The house meets the wife expectations so I'm happy about that. My portion is the lot. It is awesome. 2 acres, 30'x40' shop with 30'x18' carport attached to it, two additional carports for RV and tractor, two car garage, all fenced in and a stocked pond with fishing dock to boot. Separate electric meters for shop and house, water well, and trees galore. Trees are a very valuable commodity here in West Texas.

Hopefully we will get closed end of August and be moving in September. Seller's request to postpone closing for a cheaper price.

Universal Laws

1. Law of Mechanical Repair – After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you’ll have to pee.
2. Law of Gravity – Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.
3. Law of Probability -The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act
4. Law of Random Numbers – If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers.
5. Law of the Alibi – If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.
6. Variation Law – If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every time).
7. Law of the Bath – When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.
8. Law of Close Encounters -The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don’t want to be seen with.
9. Law of the Result – When you try to prove to someone that a machine won’t work, it will.
10. Law of bio mechanics – The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.
11.. Law of the Theater and Hockey Arena – At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle, always arrive last. They are the ones who will leave their seats several times to go for food, beer, or the toilet and who leave early before the end of the performance or the game is over. The folks in the aisle seats come early, never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies, and stay to the bitter end of the performance. The aisle people also are very surly folk.
12. The Coffee Law – As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.
13. Murphy’s Law of Lockers – If there are only two people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.
14. Law of Physical Surfaces – The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor, are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet or rug.
15. Law of Logical Argument – Anything is possible if you don’t know what you are talking about.
16. Brown’s Law of Physical Appearance – If the clothes fit, they’re ugly.
17. Oliver’s Law of Public Speaking – A closed mouth gathers no feet.
18. Wilson’s Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy – As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.
19. Doctors’ Law – If you don’t feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you’ll feel better. But don’t make an appointment, and you’ll stay sick

Economics Class

My professor asked us in the seminar to give an example of a complete business failure owing to professional negligence. I thought about for a minute and answered: A Pregnant Hooker.

I was instructed that although my answer was correct, that wasn't exactly what he was looking for. I said, OK, a drug dealer in rehab. Once again, not the answer he was looking for.

I can't seem to win with this guy. Come to find out, he meant legal business. Humpf, he should have clarified.

The 4th of July

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the
Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured
before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons
serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the
Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their
sacred honor.
What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were
farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but
they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the
penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his Ships
swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties
to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move
his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay,
and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him,
and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,
Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British
General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters.
He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was
destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed
his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13
children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid
to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning
home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. Some of us take
these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.
So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and
silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they
paid. Remember: freedom is never free!

Boycott Church's Chicken

Church's chicken has made my shit list.

They have a sign in their Odessa TX store saying that they do not want me to legally carry my concealed handgun. That is their right of course and it is my right to go eat elsewhere.

I figure that since they don't like us God fearing CHL holders, we need to spread the word that Church's chicken doesn't want our business.

Texas does it right. CHL holders have express lane to visit Capital.

By Mike Ward

Without fanfare, the first step to airport-style security checkpoints was opened Friday at the four entrances to the Texas Capitol.
The visitors and lobbyists must walk through metal detectors and have their purses and briefcases searched. In coming weeks, their belongings will have to go through X-ray machines yet to be installed.
State employees can walk around the checkpoint if they show valid state identification, as can Texans who carry a pistol with a concealed handgun license.
It's perhaps the only public building in the country where pistol-packing average Joes can walk through security undeterred.
The express lane for gun owners is clearly marked: "CHL Holders."
"It's quite intimidating. We've never had to go through this before," said Beth Lord, a retired personnel manager who was visiting the statehouse with her grandchildren.
"If they're going to have security like this, why are they letting some people to come in with guns? That doesn't make too much sense."
Other visitors who came through the checkpoints seemed to agree.
Mark Casey, a Katy engineer who was touring with his family, called the checkpoint policy "bizarre."
"I would hope our officials feel safer in a building where only they are allowed to carry guns," he said. "If terrorists and criminals with guns can't get in, why does anyone need one in here?"
Officials have justified their decision this way: Concealed handgun license holders are required to undergo training and pass a background check — steps that are expected to weed out potential nuts and terrorists.
A number of lobbyists who come and go at the Capitol several times each day — and who have been grousing about the checkpoints for months — say they plan to get concealed handgun permits so they can go through the express lane and save time. They said they do not plan to carry a weapon.
With visitor traffic light Friday, the checkpoints had no lines, and most people were smiling. Along with the checkpoints, more uniformed state troopers were noticeable in the Capitol and on its grounds.
As part of the plan to upgrade Capitol security, officials had said they planned to increase the number of troopers, install dozens of additional surveillance cameras and implement new programs to thwart any terrorist attack.

mward@statesman.com; 445-1712

Simple solution to Airline passenger searches

Here's a solution to all the controversy over full-body scanners at the airports.

*Provide a booth that each person can step into, that will not x-ray the person, but will detonate any explosive device the person may have on him/her.

Only the bystanders within a few feet of the booth would hear a muffled explosion.

It would be a win-win for everyone, and there would be none of this junk about racial profiling and this method would eliminate a long and expensive trial.

Justice would be quick and swift. Case Closed!

Shortly, thereafter, an announcement would come over the PA system,"Attention standby passengers: We now have a seat available on flight number..."

Holistic medicine

Ahkmed the Arab came to the United States from the Middle East and he was only here a few months when he became very ill. He went to doctor after doctor, but none of them could help him.

Finally, he went to an Arab doctor who said: 'Take dees bocket, go intode odder room, poop in de bocket, pee on de poop, and den put your headdown over de bocket and breathe in de fumes for ten minutes.

'Ahkmed took the bucket, went into the other room, pooped in the bucket,peed on the poop, bent over and breathed in the fumes for ten minutes.Coming back to the doctor he said, 'It worked. I feel terrific! What waswrong with me?'

The doctor said.... You were homesick

Women goes to the doctor

A woman goes to the doctor and she is beaten black and blue

Doctor: What in the heck happened to you?

Woman: Every time my husband comes home for the bar, he beats me to a pulp.

Doctor: Well, i have a cure for that. Every time your husband comes home from the bar, take a glass of sweet tea and swish the sweet tea around in your mouth until your husband goes to bed. just swish and swish and don't swallow until your husband goes to bed.

Two weeks later the woman goes back to the doctor looking fresh and reborn.

Woman: Doctor, that was a brilliant idea. Every time my husband came home from the bar i just took that sweet tea and swished and swished and he didn't touch me!!

Doctor: You see how much keeping your mouth shut helps.


Who knew!!!!

Difference between a slut and a real man

The wife ask me the other day why is it that if a girls has sex with many men she is a slut but if a man has sex with many women, he is a real man.

I told her the answer was realy quite simple.

You see, when a lock is opened by many different keys, it is a bad lock. When one key opens many different locks, it is a Master Key.

Viola!!

Racial Profiling

So everyone thinks that the new Arizona law will lead to racial profiling, hum.....

Well, if your trying to catch illegal immigrants from Mexico, who should you be looking for? Jews? Germans? Cajuns? oh, i know, Mexicans? Well Duh!!

No shit the cops will have to profile, you stupid idiots that's are who they are looking for.

If your an American Citizen then you shouldn't mind or have a hard time proving it. What is the big deal? Here at my company, we have to use a system called E-Verify whenever we hire someone. It is the same thing. You have to be able to prove you are here legally. I don't understand what is the big deal.

You don't like it, tough shit, suck it up and move on.

The stupidity of others

OK, I'm going to get philosophical for a bit. Just to give you something to think about.

Have you ever had to deal with someone who you thought was just stupid? How did you deal with them? Have you ever been driving along and someone do something stupid?

In my profession, i deal with what i used to call stupid people everyday. Webster defines stupid as lacking normal intelligence. Now there is a difference between ignorant and stupid. Ignorance i can live with, stupid i can't. At least, that is how i used to feel.

My Priest has been talking about stupidity and what it means in our life. From his point of view, we should welcome stupidity. After talking to him a few times, i have come to realize that what he is saying makes perfect sense. i will try to convey this to you, if i fail, don't blame my Priest, it is my fault.

Here is a question. Why did the Angels get mad at God and some of them leave Heaven? It was because how much God favored us. You see, we need redemption where Angels do not. Why is that you ask? Angels were created with all the intelligence that they needed. We were not. We, humans, are stupid. We have redemption because of our stupidity. I can even prove it. Remember when Jesus was hanging on the cross, He ask God to forgive them because they knew not what they were doing.

Remember also that Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments by saying "Love your brother as you love yourself". He was telling us to love stupid people as well as anyone else. Doesn't the Golden Rule teach us to do as to others as we would have them do unto us?

If God gave us redemption because of our stupidity, Jesus asked God to forgive them because they were stupid and Jesus commanded us to love others as ourselves, then our salvation lies in our own stupidity. It is because of our stupidity that we have salvation.

Next time someone pisses you off and you call them stupid, stop and think about what you are saying. We need that stupidity in others and ourselves to get into Heaven. It was given to us as a tool and we should learn to use it as such.

Thus ends today's lesson.

Setting the record straight

Even after the recent Super Bowl victory of the New Orleans Saints, I have noticed a large number of people implying, with bad jokes, that Cajuns aren't smart. I would like to state for the record that I disagree with that assessment. People that would build a city 10' below sea level in a hurricane zone and fill it with Democrats are damn geniuses.

A fairy tale

A beautiful fairy appeared one day to a destitute Mexican refugeeoutside an Arizona immigration office.
“Good man,” the fairy said, “I’ve been sent here by President Obama andtold to grant you three wishes, since you just arrived in the UnitedStates with your wife and eight children.”
The man told the fairy, ”Well, where I come from we don’t have goodteeth, so I want new teeth, maybe a lot of gold in them.”
The fairy looked at the man’s almost toothless grin and — PING ! — hehad a brand new shining set of gold teeth in his mouth!
“What else?” asked the fairy, “Two more to go.”
The refugee claimant now got bolder. ”I need a big house with a threecar garage on the water with twelve bedrooms for my familyand the rest of my relatives who still live in my country.. I want tobring them all over here” — and — PING ! — in the distance therecould be seen a beautiful mansion with a three car garage, a longdriveway, a walkout patio with a BBQ in an upscale neighborhoodoverlooking the bay.
“One more wish”, said the fairy, waving her wand.
“Yes, one more wish. I want to be like an American with Americanclothes instead of these torn clothes, and a baseball cap instead ofthis sombrero . And I want to have white skin like Americans” —and –- PING ! — The man was transformed – wearing worn out jeans,a Baltimore Orioles T-shirt and a baseball cap. He had his bad teethback and the mansion had disappeared from the horizon.
“What happened to my new teeth?” he wailed, “Where is my new house?”
THIS IS GOOD . . . . . . . .
NO, ACTUALLY THIS IS VERY GOOD . . . . .









The fairy said: “Tough s**t, Amigo, Now that you are a White American, you have to fend for yourself.”

Are you Proud to be a Catholic? I am!!

Redemption Comes Through The Jews… Jewish Businessman, Sam Miller, Whaps Anti-Catholic Bias in News Media (Full Text)
Posted on June 24, 2008 by james mary evans
64

(emphasis are mine)

Sam Miller, prominent Cleveland businessman – Jewish, not Catholic – is fighting mad about & concentrated effort by the media to denigrate the Catholic Church in this country.
I’m going to say things here today that many Catholics should have said 18 months ago. Maybe it’s easier for me to say because I am not Catholic, but I have had enough, more than enough, disgustingly enough.
During my entire life I’ve never seen a greater vindictive, more scurrilous, biased campaign against the Catholic Church as I have seen in the last 18 months, and the strangest thing is that it is in a country like the United States where there is supposed to be mutual respect and freedom for all religions.
This has bothered me because I too am a minority in this country. You see, unfortunately and I say this very advisedly the Catholics have forgotten that in the early 1850’s when the Italians, the Poles, the Latvians, the Lithuanians, all of Catholic persuasion, came to this country looking for opportunity because of famine, (particularly the Irish) they were already looked upon with derision, suspicion and hatred. Consequently the jobs they were forced to take were the jobs that nobody else wanted bricklayers, ditch diggers, Jewish junkmen, street cleaners, etc.
This prejudice against your religion and mine has never left this country and don’t ever forget it, and (sic) never will. Your people were called Papists, Waps, Guineas, frogs, fish eaters, ad infinitum.
And then after the Civil War, around 1864, the fundamentalists, conservatives, Protestants and a few WASP’s began planting burning crosses throughout the country, particularly in the South. And today; as far as I’m concerned, very little has changed. These gentlemen now have a new style of clothing they’ve gone from bed sheets to gentlemen’s suits.
There is a concentrated effort by the media today to totally denigrate in every way the Catholic Church in this country. You don’t find it this bad overseas at all. They have now blamed the disease of pedophilia on the Catholic Church, which is as irresponsible as blaming adultery on the institution of marriage. You and me have been living in a false paradise. Wake up and recognize that many people don’t like Catholics. What are these people trying to accomplish?
From the Sojourner’s Magazine dated August, 2002, listen carefully to a quote, “While much of the recent media hype has focused on the Catholic Church’s pedophilia scandal, relatively little attention has been given to the high rate of sexual misconduct in the rest of American Christendom. This is truly a crisis that crosses the borders of all religions.”
Now let me give you some figures that you as Catholics should know and remember. For example, research by Richard Blackman at Fuller Theological Seminary shows that 12% of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted to sexual intercourse with a parishioner; 38% acknowledged other inappropriate sexual contact. In a 1990 study by the United Methodist Church, 41.8% of clergywomen reported unwanted sexual behavior by a colleague; 17% of laywomen said that their own pastors had sexually harassed them. Phillip Jenkins concludes in his book “Pedophiles and Priests” that while 1.7% of the Catholic clergy has been found guilty of pedophilia, 10% of Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia.
This is not a Catholic problem. This is a problem of pure prejudice. Why the papers, day after day, week after week, month after month, see fit to do nothing but come out with these scurrilous stories? When I spoke recently to one of the higher ups in the newspaper I said, “This is wrong”. He said, “Why, do you want us to shoot the messenger?” I said, “No, just change the message”. He said, “How?” I said, “I’ll tell you how”.
Obviously, this is not just a Catholic problem. And solutions must be broader and deeper than those carried out by Catholic cardinals. The whole church has a responsibility to offer decisive leadership in the area of sexual misconduct whether it is child abuse, sexual exploitation, or sexual harassment.
Recently, churches have shown unprecedented unity on issues of poverty and welfare reform. Now it is necessary to call for a broad based ecumenical council addressing the issue of sexual misconduct in the church not only the Catholic Church, all churches, including synagogues. Its goal would be transparency and openness in developing stringent, forward?looking guidelines, consistent with denominational distinctions, for preventing and addressing sexual misconduct within Christian churches and church?related institutions.
Such a council could include not only denominational representatives but also a majority presence from external organizations such as child protection agencies, law enforcement, psychiatric services, victims’ agencies, and legal and legislative representatives.
Crisis. “Crisis” in Chinese is one word. “Crisis” in Chinese means, on the one side, a real crisis problems etc., but the other side means great opportunity.
We have a great opportunity facing us. Crisis is often accompanied by an opportunity for extraordinary growth and leadership. We have that today. Even though you are the lowest ?? by far the lowest of any organized religion today when it comes to sexual harassment ?? American churches have a unique opening to develop and adopt a single set of policies, principles, practices, and common language on sexual misconduct in Christian institutions that is binding across denominations.
A system of cross denomination review boards could be established to help compliance and accountability. A centralized resource bank could be formed that provides church wide updates on new legal, financial, psychological and spiritual developments in the field. Guidelines, both moral and legal, could be established on how clergy, churches, and victims should best use civil and criminal actions in pursuit of justice and financial restitution for injury. A national database could be established with information on all applicants for ordination in any member Christian religion. Every diocese, conference, presbytery, and district could have a designated child protection representative whose job is to ensure that the policies and procedures are understood and implemented and that training is provided.
Any religious institution, or system, that leaves power unexamined or smothers sexuality with silence rather than promoting open conversation that can lead to moral and spiritual maturity becomes implicated in creating an unhealthy and potentially abusive environment. An ecumenical Christian council authentically dedicated to strong moral leadership in the area of clergy sexual misconduct might move the church beyond the extremes of policing our own or abandoning our own.
For Christians, the true scandal is not about priests. It’s about a manipulation of power to abuse the weak. When Jesus said, “Whoever receives the child, receives me”, he was rebuking his followers for putting stumbling blocks in front of the defenseless. Church is supposed to be a place where one can lay one’s defenses down; where one is welcomed, embraced, and blessed. This can only be authentically expressed in a culture that requires absolute respect for each individual’s freedom and self hood. Until all churches bow humbly under the requirement, the indictments by wounded women and children will stand.
Just what are these Kangaroo journalists trying to accomplish? Think about it. If you get the New York Times day’ ,after day; the Los Angeles Times day after day, our own paper day after day ………………….. looking at the record, some of these writers are apostates, Catholics or ex-Catholics who have been denied something they wanted from the Church and are on a mission of vengeance.
Why would newspapers carry on this vendetta on one of the most important institutions that we have today in the United States, namely the Catholic Church?
Do you know and maybe some of you don’t the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday, at cost to your Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars. Needless to say, that Catholic education at this time stands head and shoulders above every other form of education that we have in this country. And the cost is approximately 30% less.
If you look at our own Cleveland school system, they can boast of an average graduation rate of 36%. Do you know what it costs you and me as far as the other 64% who didn’t make it?
Look at your own records. You (Catholic schools) graduate 89% of your students Your graduates in turn go on to graduate studies at the rate of 92%, and all at a cost to you. To the rest of the Americans it’s free, but it costs you Catholics at least 30% less to educate students compared to the costs that the public education system pays out for education that cannot compare.
Why? Why would these enemies of the Church try to destroy an institution that has 230 colleges and universities in the United States with an enrollment of 700,000 students?
Why would anyone want to destroy an institution like the Catholic Church which has a non profit hospital system of 637 hospitals which account for hospital treatment of 1 out of every 5 people not just Catholics in the . United States today?
Why would anyone want to destroy an institution like that? Why would anyone want to destroy an institution that clothes and feeds and houses the indigent 1 of 5 indigents in the United States, I’ve been to many of your shelters and no one asks them if you are a Catholic, a Protestant or a Jew; just “come, be fed, here’s a sweater for you and a place to sleep at night” at a cost to the Church of 2.3 billion dollars a year?
The Catholic Church today has 64 million members in the United States and is the largest non-governmental agency in the country. It has 20,000 churches in this country alone. Every year they raise approximately $10 billion to help support these agencies.
Why, after the “respected” publication, the New York Times, running their daily expose’ on the Church, finally came to the conclusion of their particular investigation, which was ongoing for a long time. And guess what: buried in the last paragraph, they came up with a mouse. In their article “Decades of Damage” the Times reported that 1.8% of American priests were found guilty of this crime whereas your own Cardinal Ratzinger in Rome reported 1.7% the figure I gave you earlier.
Then again they launched an attack on the Church and its celibate priests. However, the New York Times did not mention in their study of American priests that most are happy in the priesthood and find it even better than they had expected, and that most, if given the choice, would choose to be priests again in the face of all this obnoxious PR the church has been receiving.
Why wouldn’t the New York Times, the paper of record they call themselves, mention this? You had to read it in the Los Angeles Times. The New York Times refused to print it.
If you read only the New York Times, you would begin to believe that priests are cowards; craven; sexually frustrated; unhealthy criminals; that prey on the innocent. What a shame.
Sometimes freedom of the press should have some type of responsibility, too. So I say this to you: instead of walking around with a hangdog look ?? I talk to a lot of Catholics all the time, “how’s everything going?” ………… “Well, in the face of things I guess okay”. That’s the wrong answer! The wrong answer!
Also, I ran into a fellow who said they started a discussion at some social function on pedophilia and he said, “I excused myself and left the room.” I said, “why did you do that?” “Well, you know how it is”.
I believe that if Catholics had the figures that I enumerated here, you don’t have to be ashamed of anything. Not only are you as good as the rest, but you’re better, in every respect.
The Catholic Church helps millions of people every day of the week, every week of the month, and every month of the year. People who are not Catholics, and I sit on your Catholic Foundation and I can tell you, and what I am telling you is so. Priests have their problems, they have their failings just as you and I in this room do, but they do not deserve to be calumniated as they have been.
In small measure let’s give the media its due. If it had not come out with this story of abusive priests, (but they just as well could have mentioned reverends, pastors and rabbis and whatever), probably little or nothing would have been. done. But what bothers me the most is this has given an excuse to every Catholic hater and Catholic basher to come out loudly for the denigration of your Church.
If some CEO’s are crooks it does not follow that every CEO is crooked; and if some priests are sexually ill it does not follow that all are sick. And your Church teaches that you’ve got to take in the sick and a priest who is this way has to be taken in and cannot be thrown out the 21st story of a building. He’s got to be looked upon and given the same type of health that you would give anybody who has a broken leg or cancer or whatever.
The Church today, and when I say the Church keep in mind I am talking about the Catholic Church, is bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. The agony that Catholics have felt and suffered is not necessarily the fault of the Church. You have been hurt by an infinitesimally small number of wayward priests that, I feel, have probably been totally weeded out by now.
You see, the Catholic Church is much too viable to be put down by the New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Cleveland Plain Dealer take your choice, they can’t do it, they’re not going to do it and sooner or later they are going to give up. But you’ve got to make sure that you don’t give up first.
In 1799 a notice was placed in a French newspaper that a citizen Brachi had died in prison. Little did the people realize that this was Pope Pius VI who had occupied the Chair of Saint Peter for 25 years. He had been taken prisoner by Napoleon’s forces and died in prison as an indigent. At that time the thought was that this was the end of the Catholic Church, this was 200 and some odd years ago. And the reason was that there was no Pope to succeed him at that time.
But you fooled them then, and we’re going to fool them again.
I’ve been talking more or less about the United States of America as far as the importance of the Church. Let’s bring it home to Cuyahoga County and the seven surrounding counties.
In education, you save the county 420 million dollars per year. Wherever there’s a Church and most other churches have fled the inner city there’s a Catholic Church; and wherever there’s a Catholic Church there’s an absence of drug dealers. You talk to any bank that has real estate mortgages in the inner city, and they will tell you that the one thing that keeps up the value in that particular area is your Church. I’ve seen, for example, on Lorain near the Metro Catholic Schools there at the Church the nuns used to go out in the morning with brooms and sweep away the drug dealers from around the particular area.
On Health and Human Services, the homeless, adoption, drugs, adult care and so on, you saved the county 170 million dollars a year.
At the end of the day the difference that your local Catholic institutions make in the eight counties that comprise this diocese are several billion dollars per year.
Why don’t we hear about this? Why, because it’s good news. If some priest was caught with his hand in the collection plate it would be front page news. But the fact that you have thousands of students being education (sic) free, as far as the rest of the country is concerned, doesn’t make news. Why? Because it is not newsworthy, it’s not dirty.
I’m not here to deny freedom of the press, but I believe that with freedom comes responsibility, and with rights you have an obligation. You cannot have rights that are irresponsible.
Unfortunately, our society today is protected by all rights and ruled by some of their wickedness. Anybody who expects to reap the benefits of freedom must understand the total fatigue of supporting it. The most important element of political speech, as Aristotle taught, is the character of the speaker. In this respect, no matter what message a man brings in, it shouldn’t collide with his character.
The other day was shocked when I opened up America, a Catholic magazine, and my good friend Cardinal Keeler, who is a very dear friend of mine, was being fingerprinted by the Baltimore police not for a crime, but as part of the new law put in place that all members of the Church hierarchy must be fingerprinted.
Amos, of the Old Testament, accused the people of Samaria in words that seared and phrases that smote. They “cram their palaces,” he said, “with violence and extortion.” They had “sold the upright for silver and the poor for a pair of sandals” from Gucci, no doubt. But he also said that all this could be reversed, if only the people of Samaria would turn away from their own self absorption and toward those who, however silently, cry out for help. “Then,” promised Amos, “shall your justice flow like water and your compassion like a never failing stream” (Amos 5:24)
The worst feature of contemporary society is its tendency to leave each of us Locked up in himself or herself, connection less. To lessen this isolation we have developed all kinds of therapies spiritual, psychological, and physical front groups that meet and talk endlessly all day long in spas week spas, month spas, life spas. But none of these things, from primal screams to herbal wrap, seem to be doing the trick, any more than the huge houses and wine parties the.: the Samaritan did.
What we need to do is open our heart to the plight of others, even some of your priests who have been condemned. They’re human beings and they should be shown the same type of compassion we have shown anybody who is critically ill. We need to open our hearts to the plights of others, like our hearts were a dam, so that indeed our justice and compassion may flow to all.
What is essential is that each of us steps forward to hold out our hand to someone. There is no other way to walk with God.
One of the biggest Catholic bashers in the United States wrote “Only a minority, a tiny minority of priests, have abused the bodies of children.” He continues, “I am not advocating this course of action, but as much as I would like to see the Roman Catholic Church ruined. I hate opportunistically retrospective litigation even more.”
Now he’s talking about our tort monsters. “Lawyers who grow fat by digging up dirt on long?forgotten wrongs and hounding their aged perpetrators are no friends of mine.”
I’m still quoting this man, “All I’m doing” he said, “is calling attention to an anomaly. By all means, let’s kick a nasty institution when it is down, but there are better ways than litigation.” These words are from a Catholic hater.
I never thought in my life I would ever see these things.
Walk with your shoulders high and your head higher. Be a proud member of the most important non governmental agency today in the United States. Then remember what Jeremiah said: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” And be proud, speak up for your faith with pride and reverence and learn what your Church does for all other religions. Be proud that you’re a Catholic.
NOTE: Even though of the Jewish faith, Miller has been a staunch supporter of the Cleveland Diocese and Bishop Anthony Pilla. It was published in the May-June issue of the Buckeye Bulletin.